The Tangerines kick off their campaign against Nottingham Forest on August 9, but as it stands they don't even have a goalkeeper on their playing staff

Bare bones: Only eight first team players remain, with not one of them a goalkeeper

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Blackpool have cancelled a pre-season tour of Spain because they only have EIGHT first-team players.

While the likes of Premier League Manchester United and Chelsea debate which star names they will add to their bloated squads next, the Tangerines really are down to the bare bones.

Some 27 players have left the club since the end of last season, with the first-team squad currently lacking a goalkeeper.

And manager Jose Riga has opted to keep his side in the UK - rather than play the two matches in Spain - in a bid to add additions, chairman Karl Oyston confirmed.

He told the club's website: "The manager has taken the decision - and I agree with the decision - to cancel the pre-season tour so that our time is better served to try and get some of the player deals - that we've been trying to get over the line for some time - across the line."

Earlier in the day, Oyston insisted he was calm over the lack of players at Bloomfield Road and remarkably admitted he saw it as something of a positive.

"There is no panic," he told BBC Sport. "In fact, I see it as a benefit rather than a downside.

"It allows the manager to bring in his own team, as opposed to a manager picking up a squad that is already overloaded and he doesn't think is good enough."

David Perkins, Gary MacKenzie, Steve Davies, Bobby Grant, Tom Barkhuizen, Tony McMahon, Charles Dunne and new signing Sergei Zeniov are the ones remaining - not one is a goalkeeper.

Blackpool kick off their Championship campaign on August 9 away at Nottingham Forest.